Chapter 1: The Unicorn

A dragon and a unicorn enter into a quest together to find others of their kinds. They are both endangered in this faraway medieval land. Both young they look for help from wizards, country folk, and elves to discover if there is a way to find others. A story about family, finding old and making new.

Deep in an ancient forest where trees grew to be nearly a mile tall and the forest was covered in a soft layer of moss a clear spring flowed out of the ground and into a pool so clear it betrayed it’s depth. No man had set foot there before, and no creature dared disturb the pool or the area around it. Save one. A slender creature, horselike but with the cloven hooves of a deer and a single spiraled horn protruding fromher forehead, and Unicorn. Pure white she glistened in the sun that broke through the thick canopy of trees. Her energy kept the forest growing, even after centuries. The Unicorn was a solitary creature, living alone in a thicket beside the pool, she rarely saw another living creature. The forest animals gave her wide berth, as if she was sacred to them. Her energy fed the forest and through it, those creatures. She was their protector. As years had passed she grew lonely, longing for another creature’s voice, for even the birds had given her space.

She possessed the ability to disguise herself, but the creatures were attuned to her energy and although she could appear to them as a bird, or a deer, they could always tell. Her white coat and telltale blaze on her forehead, no matter what creature she appeared as, gave her away to them. More time passed and she began to hear rumors of a creature out of tune with nature. It seemed odd to her that anything would turn away from nature because through nature was the source of life, but in that rumor was a shred of hope. Perhaps this creature would not avoid her so. And although the creature did sound frightening, she had caught whispers of hairless, flat faces, sharp teeth who carried fire in their hands. The creatures stood on two legs like birds, but had no wings. They had claimed other creatures to do their bidding even riding on horses.The Unicorn only heard small peices before the creatures sensed her and scattered, but the rumors made her curious, if afraid. She began to wander the woods, heading for the edge of the dense trees, looking for the strange creatures.

For her journey she took the form of a sparrow, white feathers with a dark patch on her forehead. She flew through the trees, searching for signs, listening for rumor. One afternoon, as she was resting in a tree after flying since the dawn a strange sound echoed through the trees. A loud bird call, but not like any bird she had seen before. It could have been a goose or a swan, but the note was drawn out longer than any creature would make. This sound was followed by a loud barking. The unicorn could hear the frightened sounds of the animals as they ran from the noises.

“Hunt! Hunt!” they were saying. The word meant nothing to the Unicorn. Was that the name of the creatures? As she considered, the forest around her cleared, going silent as the creatures dashed into the undergrowth to get away from the Hunt. The silence did not last long however, it was broken by a wolflike howl, followed by the bird call. A small red fox jumped over the bushes, darting into the trees underneath the Unicorn’s perch. Small four legged creatures jumped over the bushes after it. Were these them? These creatures didn’t match the description of the creatures that the Unicorn had heard of. These were small, with long ears like rabbits, though they hung low instead of standing straight. The creatures stood low to the ground on all fours. Their teeth were bared and sharp. That at least matched the description, but they did not ride horses, they were far too small to reach a horse’s back. As the whiplike tails of the small creatures disappeared into the undergrowth the Unicorn heard the sound of a stampede behind them. Thundering hooves crashing through the trees. Horses, not wild like the ones she had seen in the plains around her forest long ago, but controlled. They had vines tied around their heads, on their backs sat the strangest creatures the Unicorn had ever seen. Most of their bodies were encased in a hard shell, much like a beetle, that shone like water in the sun. Parts of their skin was colored in strange patterns, some mimicking the look of flowers. Their heads weren’t covered in the same shells as their bodies, most were covered in fur. Some had fur on their faces around the mouth but others did not. All had bared teeth, snarling as they rode by. Strange sounds came from them, unlike any she’d heard before. One creature held a large horn, that looked like it was from a sheep or other creature. It brought the horn to it’s mouth and through it made the bird call she had heard before. Startled at hearing it so loudly, she lifted off of her perch. One of the creatures spotted her and pointed a shiny claw at her. The unicorn darted away before one could attack, she headed back for the safety of her pool. She had seen the creatures now, she knew of their strangeness. She could bear the loneliness to stay away from them.

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